20 June 2024 - Day 1

MAIN STAGE

8:30 - 9:00 Morning coffee and sign-in

9:00 - 9:15 Opening Keynote: Founders of the initiative: Kristina Eskenazi, Paulina Chortova, Kaloyan Ratchev, Dimitar Dimitrov 

8:30 - 13:00 Workshop: Protecting Innovation by Managing Technology Proliferation Risk (only for registered Bulgarian and Romanian organisations)

Powered by: United States Department Of State Bureau Of International Security And Nonproliferation Office Of Cooperative Threat Reduction (ISN/CTR)

13:00 - 14:00 Lunch break

14:00 - 14:30 Opening Keynote: Founders of the initiative: Kristina Eskenazi, Paulina Chortova, Kaloyan Ratchev, Dimitar Dimitrov 

14:30 - 14:45 - KeyNote: Sarah Ackerman, Ph.D., PMP, Program ManagerProgram Manager at U.S. Department of State

14:45 - 15:30 -  Funding the Future: Investor Insights into Spinoff Opportunities

Moderator: Pavel Lisev - Executive director and Member of the Management Board of the Fund of Funds

Speakers:

• Sven De Cleyn, PhD - Managing Director imec.istart Fund & istart.nl Fund 

• Diane Nevin - CEO of Grit International Female Network

• Sebastian Schenk - Verbund X Ventures

• Henk Joos - General Manager of MEDVIA

• Christophe Pompée - Venture Partner in Wippd Ventures

15:30 - 16:10 - HTIS24 - SEE Champions in Medtech (pitch decks)

Moderator: Kaloyan Ratchev

• Epix AI

• Matrichem

• Neuromorphica

• Barin Sports

• Micar21

• MM Watch

• Kelvin Health

• Simenso ltd

16:10 - 17:30 Presenting the winners from the SPREAD2INNO, Powered by: Clean Tech Bulgaria

Moderator: Kaloyan Ratchev

• Dataphoria (Greece)

• H-CAM (Greece)

• iCadran/Avisense (Greece)

• c-BEMS/INTELIGG (Greece)

• Lunar cargo (Greece)

• Solumar (Bulgaria)

• Mealprot (Bulgaria)

• Ridotek (Bulgaria)

• Golden snail (Bulgaria)

• Relaxify (Bulgaria)

• Haikai (Italy)

• Capsule Corporation (Italy)

• Saferplaces (Italy)

17:30 - 18:00 Presenting the winners from the "Science for the Future" competition, organised by America for Bulgaria Foundation

Moderator: Kristina Eskenazi

• Nedislav Veselinov - Sofia Planetarium

• Petar Petrov - HiveReader

• Blagoy Anastasov - BeVine

• Petko Stoev - Re4Life

18:00 - 18:30 - Ceremony Spinoff of the Year

18:30 22:30 - Spinoff Party

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Room 2: Green Room

Workshop: Horizon Europe, Cluster Health

Registration is required HERE

Agenda: Part 1 (issued in Bulgarian)

14:00 - 14:30 - Registration

14:30 - 14:40 - Welcome and opening

14:40 - 15:00 - Horizon Europe strategic plan 2025-2027

15:00 - 15:20 Topics: Topic 1 HORIZON-HLTH-2024-DISEASE-13-01 Presentation, Topic 2 HORIZON-HLTH-2024-CARE-14-01 Presentation, Topic 3 HORIZON-HLTH-2024-DISEASE-12-01 Presentation 

15:20 - 15:40 - National Contact Points and Q&A

15:40: 16:10 - Coffee break

Part 2 (issued in English)

16:10 -16:30 - Innovative Health Initiative (IHI) presentation 

16:30 - 16:50 - Q&A

16:50 - 17:10 - The role of artificial intelligence and data protection in project work.

17:10 - 17:30 - Q&A 

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Room 3: Red Room

14:00 -14:30 Workshop: SPREAD2INNO Module 1: Business Angels and Venture Capitalists (led by European Business Angels Network – the Pan-European representative for the early-stage investor community gathering over 100 member organisations in more than 50 countries.)

14:30 - 15:00 Workshop: SPREAD2INNO Module 2: EU Funds (led by TESEAS - a research and consulting company based in Italy that provides services for industries, commercial companies, private individuals and public administration.)

15:00 - 16:00 VIP Close Meeting: European Health Insitute (invitation only)

16:00 - 17:00 Workshop topic: Harnessing Emerging technologies – AI, next-gen tech to accelerate innovations deployment With Nikolay Chotrov

MAIN STAGE / Room 1

10:00 - 10:30 Opening Keynote: Founders of the initiative: Kristina Eskenazi, Paulina Chortova, Kaloyan Ratchev, Dimitar Dimitrov 

Official Guest Speaker (Senior Government Stakeholders)

10:30 - 10:45 - Keynote 1: Svetlin Penkov- Chair of AI Cluster Bulgaria, CEO of Efemerai

10:45 - 11:45 - Panel 1: Spinoffs in Focus: Perspectives from European Policymakers

Moderator: Kristina Eskenazi

Speakers:

• Dr. Claire Skentelbery - Director General of the EuropaBio 

• Montse Daban, PhD - President of the Board of the Council for European BioRegions

• Anne-Charlotte Joubert - INVEST’HER project leader, Project ManagerProject Manager at Euro-BioImaging

11:45 - 12:00 - Keynote 2: Dario Zoric, Regional digitalisation lead, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark

12:00 - 12:45 - Panel 2: INNAXE: Navigating the European Spin-off Ecosystem

• Montse Daban, PhD  - BioCat, President of the Board of the Council for European BioRegions

• Hickmah TAGAULLY - Head of European Affairs at Medicen Paris Region

• Kristina Eskenazi - Chair of the Health & Life Sciences Cluster

• Karen Lindegaard - International programme manager at Danish Life Science Cluster

• Friedemann Loos - BioRN Life Science Cluster Rhine-Neckar

• Alberto Baldi - Senior Project Manager at CEBR

12:45 - 13:00 - Keynote 3: Johan Lecocq, International Relations Manager at MEDVIA.

How clusters and international cluster collaboration can support start-ups and scale-ups to grow?

13:00 - 13:10 Project VELES with Irena Pavlova - European Projects Manager at GATE Institute for Big Data and Artificial Intelligence at Sofia University.

13:10 - 14:30 - Lunch

14:30 - 14:45 - Keynote 4: EIT Manufacturing § South East Region: Services and Funding Opportunities with Dr. Nikos Panopoulos is the Strategic Projects Manager at EIT Manufacturing South-East Europe

14:45 - 15:00 - Keynote 5: Addressing ESG challenges in alignment with the EU Climate Pact for business growth and sustainability with Mariyana Hamanova, Executive Director of Cleantech Bulgaria

15:00 - 15:45 Panel 3: Exploring growth paths and opportunities for startups/spinoffs

Powered: CleanTech Bulgaria

Moderator: Mariyana Hamanova, Executive Director of Cleantech Bulgaria

• European Business Angel Network

• Fraunhofer 

15:45 - 16:00 Coffee break

16:00 - 16:15 Keynote 6: Dr Hamish McAlpine - Director for Policy & Engagement at Oxentia

16:15 - 16:30 - Keynote 7: Ass. prof. Dimitar Nikolov - Assoc. Professor Dimitar Nikolov - SMIES, AI Cluster Bulgaria, TU Sofia

16:30 - 17:30 - Panel 4: Semiconductor Horizons: Navigating the Future with the Chips Act

Moderator: Assoc. Professor Dimitar Nikolov - SMIES, AI Cluster Bulgaria, TU Sofia

• Prof. George Angelov - Deputy Minister of Innovation and Growth

• Vladimir Grozdanov - Chief Executive Officer at Barin Sports AD

• Yani Trendafilov - CEO of Neuromorphica

• Nidec Instruments Corporation (TBC)

17:30 - 17:45 - Closing remarks

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Room 2: Green Room

10:45 - 11:05 Keynote - Werner Wutscher: Spin-offs - the Driver of Innovation in Europe - an Austrian Perspective

11:05 - 12:00 Kickoff: Spinoff Danube Alliance - Developing a spinoff ecosystem in the Danube region

• Radoslav Invanov - Fraunhofer Venture

• Werner Wutscher - Member of the Startup Council of the Federal Ministry of Labour and Economy of Austria and Founder & CEO of New Venture Scouting 

• Lisa Kratochwill - Verbund X Ventures

• Prof. Dr. Eng. Georgi Todorov - Technical University Sofia 

14:30 - 15:00  Corporation's Strategy for Innovation and Spinoff Ventures

• Lisa Kratochwill - Verbund X Innovation

• Thomas Klem Andersen - Director, DeepTech Alliance

15:00 - 16:00 From Lab to Market: TTOs Leading the Charge in Academia Spinoff Ventures

Insights & Best Practices from Bulgarian and International TTOs and Sciencepreneurs

• Fabio Bianchi, Head of Entrepreneurship, Oxentia

• Svetoslav Mollov, Head of Technology Transfer and Commercialization at Quasar Competence Center (TBC)

• Georgi Kirov - Crisp Labs

• Valentin Savov - Savov and Partners Law Firm

• Ass prof George Toshkov - University of Food Technology - Plovdiv

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Room 3: Red Room

10:30 - 11:00 Workshop: SPREAD2INNO Module 3: Business model (led by Fraunhofer Institute for Production Systems and Design Technology - carrying out applied research and development in the fields of future-oriented technologies for the production process in factories.)

11:00 - 12:00  Workshop: EIT Manufacturing programs and funding calls: AI in Manufacturing

Lector: Dr. Nikos Panopoulos is the Strategic Projects Manager at EIT Manufacturing South-East Europe

12:30 - 13:00 Workshop: SPREAD2INNO Module 4: European Innovation Ecosystems (led by MINDS&SPARKS - an independent, non-profit research organisation based in Vienna, Austria fostering science, innovation and technology to address major challenges and develop new methods and solutions for a better society.)

14:30 - 14:50 - Workshop: Exploring Dual-Usage Technologies 

Lector: Vassil Karaivanov - Chairman of the Sofia Tech Park 

14:50 - 15:30 Shaping Public Health: Prioritizing Prevention and Early Detection Efforts in Bulgaria (issued in Bulgarian language only)

• Lidiya Chorbanova

15:30 - 16:30 - Panel Discussion: Female Founders Evolution

• Anne-Charlotte Joubert - INVEST’HER project leader, Project Manager at Euro-BioImaging

• Sarah Ackerman, Ph.D., PMP, Program Manager at U.S. Department of State

• Ass. Prof Agata Manolova - Technical University Sofia

• Diane Nevin - CEO of Grit International Female Network

A spinoff is an entity, formed as a separate and independent enterprise from an existing organisation, which holds novel value and new strategic purpose. Spinoffs often come from academia, corporates, government and healthcare.

Spinoffs are the bedrock of economic growth and innovation. They create jobs, unlock private capital, stimulate R&D and adoption of innovation. One prominent example of a spinoff powerhouse is the UK, with 1,500 spinoffs in the last 10 years, which created 6000 jobs and £11b of capital raised.

Some prominent clusters such as Oxford, generated 200 spinoffs since 2011 which unlocked £2.4 billion of private capital. The famous ‘Golden Triangle’ produces over 100 spinoffs every year. Moreover, a spinoff on average has 50% higher valuation at seed stage than a non-spinoff company.

A Spinoff innovation can be created and developed via a number of different models. These models are applicable at different stages of the innovation cycle. They share similar purposes and characteristics but vary by strategy, execution and organisational context.

• Technology Transfer – protection and commercialisation of research, often experimental and scientific, developed by a university for economic and social benefits.

• Venture Build – the process of developing a venture in a controlled manner by putting the best ideas, teams and resources together.

• Design Thinking – a solution based approach which redefines problems and builds ventures with alternative strategies that address customer needs effectively.

• Acceleration – the development of an existing venture or idea by supporting launch or market access by offering expertise and finance for a fixed period of time.

• Incubation – a centre which offers early stage organisation access to infrastructure such as office, laboratories and resources to support the growth of a business.